I just found something!

  This week we began our study of plants.  We had an exciting time planting our fast-growing plants and watching them grow.

 

First we just observed dry beans and noted some of their properties.  Then we soaked the beans in water overnight to compare them to the dry beans.  The following is some of the dialogue I heard from the students:  

Teacher: What have we noticed about our seeds now that they have been soaked?

Sydney:  When we soaked the bean for 24 hours it got bigger.

Alexis: La semilla crecio.

Teacher:  What's inside the seed?

Noel: It's a little plant! Mine looks like a rose.

Sydney: Mine looks like a pepper.

Alexis:  The skin looks like the chrysalis of a butterfly.

Chris:  I just found something! A little seed thing inside the seed. And the skin is clear. Not white.

 

The students are measuring the length of the plants every day so that we can graph their data.

 

Now the students are talking about the emerging buds the day after we planted the seeds.

Jomar:  I could already see the seed and it looks like the hairs of the dandelion.

Adeline: It's growing white.

Alexis:  Puedo ver una raiz.

River: If I had an invention I would try to make something to help the plants grow faster.

Teacher:  We have an invention!  We put fertilizer in there.

Some of us have named our plants!

Integrating ELA with Social Studies

Buddy reading.  We use highlighters and sticky notes to mark important passages. 

Use use place vlaue charts to explain the "why" of regrouping.

We even had time for a brain break.  If you wonder what that means, go to GoNoodle.com and see our class mascot.  He's cute :)